Occurrence abundance ,growth and food habits of sbour, Tenualosa ilisha,juveniles in three restored marshes southern Iraq

A total of 1839 Tenualosa ilisha juveniles 14 cm, including three specimens 21 cm, were collected from the East Hammar marsh during the period from July to November 2006. Juveniles were absent in during months from December to February. Mature individuals were not found. Sbour were not caught from two other marshes (Hawizah and Chabaish). T. ilisha represents 10.4% of the total numbers of fishes in East Hammar marsh. The unimodal distribution observed clearly indicating that catches were exclusively based on one year-class individuals. The length-weight relationship of the species was W= 0,0132 * L ^ 2.747. The relative condition factor ranged from 0.954 to 1.086. T. ilisha grew from 3.5 to 10cm in 82 days. The trophic habit is planktonivorous, food items constituted filamentous algae (40%), diatoms (34%) and zooplankton (18%). The study reveals that East Hammar marsh serves as setting ground for young-of-the-year juveniles.